I saved a Robin chick today

A bad storm rolled in last night, very windy and plenty of rain. So it wasn't that impossible to find a couple of nests on the ground. However what
caught my surprise was the site of what looked to be infantile birds. I thought at first that perhaps they were fetal birds that broke from the eggs
on impact. However no egg shells were around the area. Then to my bewilderment I saw a baby bird going difficult breathing. It was still alive! I was
in amazement that a bird could survive a 6 foot fall as a new-born and survive for roughly 8 hours on the ground without the watchful eye of a mother
bird. They were actually two birds on the ground, however the other bird was clearly deceased and somehow had sustained lacerations on its left thigh.
I felt sorrow for it but hoped that it died quickly. The other bird had a chance to live though, thoughts raced through my mind. Can anyone do
anything for this bird, should I just put it out of it's misery knowing that it certainly would die without intervention. I chose to attempt to save
its life, I called a Vet and they said bring it on in. After that call the bird seemed to move more, attempting to move its wings that were just
beginning to show feathers. The vet actually told me that I could pick up the bird bare-handed. No. That simply was not going to happen, I am not a
germaphobe but I do work at a hospital so hygiene has played a bigger part in my life. Birds are not the cleanest animals and they do carry mites and
fleas. I got a shovel out and put both birds in a box, plus the nest. I didn't want a dead bird in the yard, and I thought perhaps the nest could be
helpful in the situation. When I arrived at the vet the bird was breathing harder, most likely due to being tumbled around during the drive which was
out of my control. The vet tech also seemed to feel sorrow for the dead bird. She had me sign a paper that relinquished ownership of the wild bird to
a wildlife agency.

I drove home and felt good that I possibly saved a bird's life. However I didn't feel a link to the bird. I just felt like it was a baby
bird that was going to die without help. But I didn't feel a connection to the bird, I know some people have felt as if animals are more aware than
we give them credit for. I didn't feel like that, that bird whether or not for my interaction was still going to attempt to live on its own. My
interaction only gave it a better chance, I hoped that perhaps the bird would in a way thank me, a slight gesture that I could pick up on. A squawk or
it standing up, nothing I left the box and that was that. I feel better about myself but it was very hollow. Did I do what I should have, or should I
have let nature run its course? The bird may live but it will go on and just be another background actor in our environment. And by saving the bird I
effectively took a source of energy away from a carnivore. Long story short, I felt good but also realize that my actions will be acknowledged nor be
reciprocated. A connection with that bird was never there, the bird was just a bird that has a better chance at living now. It was not more aware than
what we give it credit for, it was just a bird and that was that. Sometimes nature is simply just nature. It doesn't need to become some
misunderstood emotional and psychological connection with all living beings. It is simply a name that we have given for the organic entities and non
organic entities that we see.

Originally posted by stirling
A freakin pick up with a shovel and a drive to the vet where you signed over the bird to virtually certain death?
yeah pat yerself a big one and know er going to heaven when you die for that kindness........
maybe you could try simply cruching its little head with your foot next time because the extra sufferring the ride caused was just more torture before
the big foot crushed it later out of your sight....
try tracing that bird now and see what happened to it....just for giggles and #s.
If you you really wanted the opportunity to raise your karma, you should have raised it yourself....it can be done and it is inrteresting and
informative......and grows the soul
Some people are born brain dead..............

Lol ... Who raises random birds they find on the street? And feed it with your mouth? Ha, no.... But that post was pretty funny, sounded like a
lashing from PETA

Thank you for your kindness in trying to save this baby. Some vets will actually help a baby bird, and some will not. There are wildlife facilities
that do assist so hopefully this vet is in contact with them and will have them pick up the baby.If you take any wildlife to a vet you are are
required to sign them over by law. Another stupid law, but thats another story. If he/she does live, it will be because you cared enough to take her
for help. As for the rude comment, not many people know how to raise a baby bird. Especially hard is raising one with zero feathering.
On another note, birds are not dirty and they do not get fleas. Only mammals attract fleas.

I, for one, appreciate your kind heart. Too few of those left in our world. I think this baby Robin did as well. I hope that he or she thrives to be
set free someday.

Please understand that the very act of picking up the bird made you responsible for it on a personal level......
Simply fobbing it off upon somebody else is no real feat of kindness, involved little effort and no sacrifice on your part, and in reality the shelter
or whatever will likely kill this creature pitilessly out of hand.
Seeeew what DID you DO today? meh........you blew it off!
By the way i have raised several baby birds by now.....it takes more than that im afraid......but its worth the effort..

Originally posted by Pitlover
Thank you for your kindness in trying to save this baby. Some vets will actually help a baby bird, and some will not. There are wildlife facilities
that do assist so hopefully this vet is in contact with them and will have them pick up the baby.If you take any wildlife to a vet you are are
required to sign them over by law. Another stupid law, but thats another story. If he/she does live, it will be because you cared enough to take her
for help. As for the rude comment, not many people know how to raise a baby bird. Especially hard is raising one with zero feathering.
On another note, birds are not dirty and they do not get fleas. Only mammals attract fleas.

I, for one, appreciate your kind heart. Too few of those left in our world. I think this baby Robin did as well. I hope that he or she thrives to be
set free someday.

edit on 22-6-2012 by Pitlover because: spell

I have to disagree, have you heard of bird mites, yes birds are dirty but that don't mean you should avoid helping one that needs it. i saved a goose
that got hit by an a-hole driving down the street, he speed up to hit the bird. The bird did survive though...

Originally posted by stirling
A freakin pick up with a shovel and a drive to the vet where you signed over the bird to virtually certain death?
yeah pat yerself a big one and know er going to heaven when you die for that kindness........
maybe you could try simply cruching its little head with your foot next time because the extra sufferring the ride caused was just more torture before
the big foot crushed it later out of your sight....
try tracing that bird now and see what happened to it....just for giggles and #s.
If you you really wanted the opportunity to raise your karma, you should have raised it yourself....it can be done and it is inrteresting and
informative......and grows the soul
Some people are born brain dead..............

Why are you lashing out at the OP? He/she stated that he/she called the vet and THEY said to bring it in. Shouldn't they know what's best? Should we
not put trust in our vets? Sorry we're not all experts on saving wild birds like you.

I highly doubt the vet's office told him/her to bring it in if their intention was to kill it as soon as the op left the building.
No, they would of said just let nature run it's course if they thought there was nothing they could do.

I don't really believe in karma, I'm not Hindu nor Buhddist so I'm really not worried about that. Yes I picked it up with a shovel, because birds
carry parasites, the vet even told me to wash my hands just because I picked up the box due to mites from the bird. I'm not patting myself on the
back either as I stated in the op, I said it was a hollow feeling because I hoped for more and didn't get it. I can't care for a bird, I haven't
the first clue on how to care for it, plus we have foxes in the area. I made the decision the I and the vet both thought was the best.

Bird mites are exactly what the vet warned me about when I came in with the box, telling me I had to wash my hands extensively before I left. Plus I
saw a tick in the box that I brought the bird in, was the tick in the box before? It's possible either way a tick was in the box and a bird with a
nest was in the box.

Well these people do get paid to help animals, much like a doctor gets paid to help a person. I never tried to make it seem like I was a hero, I was
just relaying a story about how I possibly extended the life expectancy of a bird that otherwise was not going to lice. I am no bird expert nor do I
try to be, I can't believe that because I took a bird to a vet I have become a bad guy.

Perhaps the vet is a great marketing expert for all i know.....
The whole concept is of this person making a thread about this somehow downgrades the level this forum tries to achieve.....A simple shovel whisk and
trip to the vet is hardly worth commending yourself in a world wide site dedicated to much more intense subject matter shall we say......
This isnt about the bird, i think its more about the general dumbing down of peoples sensibiities and sense of self worth as well as dedication to
their own professed ideas.....
Baby robins require great effort to bring along past the danger stage.....but once past that ,they make loyal if not the cleanliest of small
companions.....
Fortunately this loyaty is slowly weakened as you wean the mature chick from depending upon you.....
I used to laugh to see the old Lady and her baby robins out weeding the flower beds together....
Shed pull weeds and worms and they woud crowd around her following her progress and doing some pulling of their own once they caught on where worms
come from...........but when she stood up, they would flock onto her shoulders and come into the house with her.....eventullay they just stopped
comming in with her one by one..
This first trick must have got around because the community started to bring us baby birds when they found them...in hopes we would take them
in......well....there ya go........be careful what you let yerself in for on the side.........
I raised three baby swallows while recouperating from a logging accident...( nothing better to do at the time) .my nephew was visiting from the east
coast,(he was a pretty disturbed thirteen,) and we had a good time together fooling with these little guys.....It certainly improved his demeanor,and
softened some of his selfish attitudes....He learned what the responsibility for something helpless is really like too.....
An eye dropper, mooshy cat food, and mixed to a semi liquid with warmish milk was their diet....(seemed good to me) They ate voraciously many daily
feedings of this concoction.....so he learned to handle these very fragile life forms, and nourish them....Fill the dropper, hover your hand down to
them, and stick the dropper into their gaping beak gently injecting the food lest the overdose and choke on it.....probaby the very best therapy for a
boy who i carried, at his fathers funeral when he was three ears old...he took to those helpless chicks right awway, perhaps unconsciously
recognizing the similarity of their plight somehow......
They would back over to the edge of yer hand to poo....When i did have to go to..work , on getting home, they would flock down from their perches and
enter my beard where they hung out much of the time i raised them when very small.....
Such chatty little guys too...very cheerful all the time....I used to play guitar for them whist they snuggled in my beard ( i had a 16 yr old beard
by then......keeps ya warm in winter and keeps the bugs out in summer .....)
As far as mites go...picked up gently with a cloth or paper towel, and wrapped warmly for shock, as well as darkened space so they sleep while being
transported would have been minimal......a swish onto a cold shovel
is hardly a "save".
When i went back to the bush to fight fire that summer, my old Lady took over weaning the baby swallows..........she had to take them to where they
had fallen out of their nest(the local coffee shop) more than once.
They rode in her hair in the pickup down the the cafe... where theey greeted, and flew with their origonal flock of swallows, but when she came out to
go home, the would flock back down to her shouders, and crawl into her hair for the ride home....
Finally, she took them there one day, and they didnt come down to go home...so we called it a success......
It is gratifying to watch a bird you have hand fed all winter, bring her young to the back porch feeder while you stand next to it, as if to
introduce you to your new grandchildren for the first time.....and when she alights to eat from your hand, they do too.....
Perhaps theres a lot more to saving birds than most would imagine................We miss out on all the really good lessons in life whilst thinking we
are so doing the right thing.......

Yes the person who got a D.V.M. and goes through all the licensing to practice medicine, is simply just a great marketing expert. I'm not going to be
talked down to because I had no clue how to raise a bird, that's simply rude. I took the animal to the vet, where people could actually take care of
it. Now the original intention of this thread wasn't so I could feel satisfaction about what I did. I was hoping to have discussions centered around
human-animal connections. People seem to claim that when they save animals they get a form of a thank you or something around those lines. I didn't
feel like that with the bird, I felt that the bird knew not what was going on, and will live or die not knowing who picked it up off the ground. I
don't think animals are normally more aware than humans, any rebuttals?

Thanks, there was nothing I could do for the bird if I didn't take it to the vet. Most people can't take in wild animals but people seem to forget
that. Oh well we all have our convictions in life and will fight for them.

I have a bird here now that was brought to the ER and requested euthanasia which I refused and had the bird relinquished to me. It is doing well so
far though to be honest hand raising wild animals most often doesn't work out very well.

I can promise you the tech would not have asked you to relinquish the animal with the intention of killing it. Sometimes after a long night of poor
owner decisions and heart wrenching euthanasia's the only way to stay positive is to give some lost creature at the least another chance.

In the future if you find a bird on the ground return it to its nest. It is a myth that the mother birds wont feed a bird if it smells humans on them.
They will continue caring for them. So just return it to the nest next time.

any efforts to help animals are to be applauded. they get enough # from humanity, so the positive gestures count.
i found this little chap lying stunned in a gutter (i think it had flown into a window). i picked it up and breathed warm air over it for a couple
of minutes. it revived and flew away to perch on a nearby rooftop.

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